If you want a bit of second-hand embarrassment to kickstart your Monday, then look no further than Donald Trump and his recent soccer match blunder.
In case you missed it, Trump and his wife, Melania, made an appearance at the FIFA Club World Cup final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The president’s day out got off to a pretty bad start when he was booed by the crowd while appearing on the jumbotron during the playing of the national anthem before the match kicked off. And then, things only got worse when, after Chelsea beat PSG 3-0, it came time for Trump to present the winning team with the trophy.
After being booed for a SECOND time when he walked onto the pitch, Trump helped hand over the trophy with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. But, instead of leaving the stage to allow the players to lift it as a team, he just…didn’t move, forcing the confused players to awkwardly celebrate around him.
From what we can tell, it’s very unlikely that this was what Trump was supposed to do, not only based on the fact that Infantino seemed to be desperately gesturing for him to get off the stage, but because of the players’ reactions to the whole thing.
In the live broadcast, Chelsea captain Reece James could be seen giving a confused look towards Trump while hesitantly waiting to lift the trophy. Behind him, his teammate Cole Palmer looked similarly baffled by the president’s involvement in the celebrations as he appeared to be asking those around him, “What is he doing?”
In post-match press interviews, both Reece and Cole confirmed that they were “confused” by Trump’s presence during the trophy lift. “They told me that he was going to present the trophy and then exit the stage,” the captain told Sky Sports. “I thought that he was going to exit the stage, but he wanted to stay.”
Well, it’s safe to say that the awkwardness did not go unnoticed by fans online, who’ve wasted no time in mocking Trump and criticizing his lack of self-awareness.
I have three words: Read. The. Room. You can watch the full clip here.
